Panama Canal official hopes lock dispute settled soon

Manuel Benitez, deputy administrator of the Panama Canal Authority (ACP), said Monday he is still hopeful that an agreement can be reached between the canal authority and the contractor group building a new set of locks. Grupo Unidos por el Canal has said it will leave the project if it is not paid back for what it says are $1.6 billion in cost overruns. On Jan. 7, ACP said it would advance the group $100 million and extend an $83 million loan by two months if GUPC commits a further $100 million to the project. The money would be earmarked to pay subcontractors, who have been working without compensation, according to the ACP. “These works are so advanced that I really don’t see that it would be easy for the cont...